Joseph "Joe" Browne

From Find A Grave Memorial# 72087996

Born into slavery on the farm of Louis C. Lischy, near Nashville, in Davidson County, Tennessee. His mother was named Octavia Lischy. She was also known as Toby. Octavia was a slave of Louis Lischy, who was reputedly the father of Joseph. Joseph Lischy is found in the household of Louis Lischy in 1870. By 1880 he had changed his name to Joseph Browne. Joe was a florist in East Nashville. He married Callie Turner in 1895 and became a step-father to her 12 year old daughter Daisy Agnes Turner (Washington). Daisy's great-grandson is Julian Bond, social activist and a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement. In 1953, after the death of his wife Callie, Fisk University received a gift of $130,000 from Joe's estate. Dr. Johnson, then President of Fisk, said this was the largest gift ever received by Fisk from a Negro and he believed this to be the largest gift ever received by any educational institution by a Negro.

From Nashville History Posted Nov 2014

African American Burials, Spring Hill Cemetery, Madison, Davidson County, Tennessee.   
At Spring Hill Cemetery, on Gallatin Pike in Madison, there is a large section, with only a few markers, in the southwest corner of the cemetery that was reserved for the burial of persons of African descent. On a plat of the cemetery, the section is marked, "H" single graves. A large marker with the name Joe Browne, across the front, is the most prominent in this section. Three footstones, identify the persons buried in the lot as; Joe Browne 1860-1917; Callie Browne 1858-1953; and Olive Lischey (sister of Joe Browne) 1864-1918.

It was the search for Joe Browne's grave that brought me to this area of Spring Hill Cemetery. I first learned of Joseph Browne from Dr. Bill McKee of Cumberland University. Dr. McKee asked for my help in a history of Northeast Nashville that he was putting together. The resulting book, North Edgefield Remembered, tells the story of Joseph Browne and his wife Callie. Browne, born into slavery in 1859, was reared in the home of Louis Lischy, a Nashville florist. It was alleged in a divorce proceeding brought by Lischy's wife that Joe was the son of Louis Lischy. The graves of the two men are separated in the cemetery by only a narrow lane. Joe Browne worked for many years for Louis Lischy, at Lischy's greenhouse in Northeast Nashville. At Lischy's death, Browne took over the florist business and was well known in Nashville.

• Florist Ad

The size of section H, and the lack of mention of most of these burials in the interment records for Spring Hill Cemetery leads to the belief that there may have been many more burials of persons of color at Spring Hill Cemetery from it's beginning in 1785 until the early 1950's.

• Residence: (1870 — Age: 7) District 18, Davidson, Tennessee, United States
• Residence: (1900 — Age: 37) Civil District 17, Davidson, Tennessee, USA
• Residence: (1910 — Age: 47) Civil District 12, Davidson, Tennessee, USA
• Residence: (1915 — Age: 52) Nashville, Tennessee, USA
• Burial: (27 Jan 1917) United States
• Burial: Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, USA
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy via Callie Turner by SmartCopy: Aug 18 2015, 0:41:49 UTC